Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at India-Rwanda Business Forum in Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda on 24th July 2018
Be it infrastructure or be it quality of life or be it governance or be it economic vibrancy or be it is a self-sufficient family, I have seen an extremely beautiful model of these things that how development can be carried out by covering all these aspects. And I was involved so deeply in that we got late in coming here.
I am the first Prime Minister of India who has got the opportunity to visit this country. However, I am glad that such a large Indian business delegation has accompanied me here. And it is the proof that although India is growing at a fast pace but our formula is Sabka Sath-Sabka Vikas  and therefore not only we shall make progress but we should also help all those in their growth who walk alongside us and we will walk together. This is our basic idea.
I would like to especially urge the people of Indian Business Forum who are present here that please do not think that you have merely come to Rwanda. Today, the situation is like this that coming to Rwanda means that the doors of entire Africa are open for you because the key lies here. Rwanda model and its development are being discussed all over Africa. In a way there is a new tendency which has developed throughout Africa and Mr. President has been leading it. Your visit to this country means that you are not confined to the boundaries of just one country. If you consider this thing then you will see that many more possibilities and you will come across to many more challenges and opportunities. And I believe that you people not will let go this opportunity.
I have been observing this thing since yesterday that Mr. President is very passionate. Good governance, development and progress of the people, prosperity of the people and peace in the society, all these topics are central to his thinking. And all these things are favourable to us Indians. These things are extremely suitable to our nature.
Now this country is like this. India decided to come to Africa at a time when the attention of world was not on Africa, when no one felt like coming to Africa.
Look! There is a family from Jodhpur in Gujarat, I believe that they had come here at the end of the 19th century. And since then several people from India have come here. They have mixed with the lives of local people. They have become a partner in the developmental journey of the country. It’s true that now the attention of the world is drawn to this country. The whole world feels like coming to this country. However, we had come to the country at a time when this place really needed us. And today we want to help them grow so that we can together support the world. So that we can do something for those who are still lagging behind, who did not get the opportunities. We have been going to the world with this intention and we have been taking along the countries of the world. We want to do something for the welfare of people of those countries of the world by working together with them.
Mr. President had visited Gujarat. He saw and understood a lot of things in Gujarat. Whenever he visited India, he was always inclined towards those things which are development oriented. He himself looks at things and understands them and he invites people.
I believe that there will never be any hurdle in doing any work in the country whose head is so much committed to the development and who has a nature of understanding, accepting and proving new and newer things.
There are limitless possibilities and if you open one window then you will come across to another opportunity. And if you open the second window then you will see another even grander opportunity. And you will continue to move ahead, you will continue to march ahead and you will continue to be successful. And I can clearly see these possibilities here. And therefore there are equal opportunities in India as well. There are several business people in Rwanda and if they want to grow in India then India is ready to provide them all kind of facilities. I invite them.
However, I would like to urge the people of India, the kind of modernity towards which Rwanda is moving… be it infrastructure or rural development or be it economic activity or be it their desire to set up a network of small scale industries or be it their desire to develop a global market for their products all these issues are such that members of Indian business community could do a lot of things together.
India has started Make in India movement in the country. We can share this Make in India movement with Rwanda. We can connect with them. We have been moving ahead to tackle the issues related to climate change through International Solar Alliance. And a big movement has been launched to make life more affordable and to understand how to use solar energy for this purpose. I hope that people of Rwanda will come forward for this thing.
Today, when I was travelling with Mr. President then I discussed the use of LED bulbs. LED bulbs have benefitted Indian middle class, middle class Indian families so much that their electricity bills have now been reduced to just one third. If we launch this LED bulb campaign in Rwanda then it will help the people to save energy and it will benefit poor and middle class people of the country.
And the expenditure required for setting up energy plants can also be reduced due to reduction in energy requirement. And the energy saved could be used for industrial activity which is being used in domestic consumption today. So what a big change could be brought about by a small thing. We can collectively work in this direction. There is a lot of potential in dairy industry, there is a potential for milk revolution and India has mastery over it. We can collectively work with them by joining hands. Hence, in a way, the capabilities that India has from the village level to the national level, the strength of Indian business community and Indian industry that we have, we can thoroughly utilize these strengths for the development of Rwanda. Rwanda is a friend country. If you examine the country closely then you will find that there are similarities in the culture that we follow in India. You will find a sense of affinity in everything. And we can understand it very well that how easy it would be to operate in the country which has this sense of affinity, which has democratic values and transparent governance and which has efficiency and a committed leadership.
Mr. President has spent his entire time with us from the moment I had landed at the airport yesterday to till now. It is an extremely rare thing. His entire government is with me. We keep visiting different countries of the world, however, we should learn it from Mr. President that how to properly utilize every single minute. I am delighted and once again I thank him and convey my best wishes to all of you.